The Securities and Exchange Commission has decided not to file insider-trading charges against David L. Sokol, a one-time top lieutenant at Omaha-based Berkshire Hathaway, Sokol's lawyer said Thursday.

Sokol came under scrutiny in 2011 after abruptly resigning as chairman of Berkshire's MidAmerican Energy Holdings, one of the many holdings of the investment conglomerate run by the billionaire Warren Buffett.

At the time, Berkshire revealed that Sokol bought shares in Lubrizol, a maker of lubricants that he wanted Buffett to buy. Sokol bought the shares two months before Berkshire announced a $9 billion acquisition of the company. After the deal was announced, the value of his Lubrizol stake rose by $3 million.

Sokol's lawyer, Barry W. Levine, said that the SEC informed his client Thursday that it had decided not to pursue any charges related to the trades.

3. To A Lay Person This Looks Like An Open And Shut Case

The fact that the SEC says there is insufficient evidence simply points to serious flaws regarding insider trading that need to be addressed. One of Sokol's primary jobs was to make investment recommendations to Buffett. While Buffett didn't simply rubber stamp those recommendations the odds were high that the recommendation would be accepted otherwise there was no purpose in having Sokol working in that capacity, hence my view that this should have been an open and shut case. Time to tighten up the insider trading rules.